Polish cases – a cheat sheet with tables

What a case is

A case is a change in a word’s ending that tells you who is doing something, to whom, with whom or where. In English this information is carried by word order and prepositions; in Polish it is carried mainly by endings. That is why Polish word order is fairly free: Anna widzi Marka and Marka widzi Anna mean the same thing (“Anna sees Marek”), because the ending -a in Marka shows who is being seen.

Here is how one name changes across all the cases:

Each case has its own page with examples, exceptions and exercises – the links are in the table below.

Table of cases: questions and uses

Each case has its own helper questions – ask the question and the answer will suggest the ending. The vocative has no question, because it is used for addressing someone.

Noun endings in the singular

The endings depend on the noun’s gender. The table shows four typical words: a masculine noun for a person (student), a masculine noun for a thing (dom – house), a feminine noun (kobieta – woman) and a neuter noun (okno – window). If you are not sure what gender a word has, see the page on noun genders.

The key endings in brief:

• Genitive: masculine -a or -u (brata, sklepu), feminine -y or -i (kawy, matki), neuter -a (mleka).
• Dative: masculine usually -owi (lekarzowi), feminine -e, -i or -y (siostrze, Basi, ulicy), neuter -u (dziecku).
• Accusative: masculine people and animals like the genitive (widzę brata, psa), masculine things like the nominative (widzę dom), feminine -ę (kawę), neuter like the nominative.
• Instrumental: masculine and neuter -em (bratem, mlekiem), feminine -ą (kawą).
• Locative: masculine and neuter -e or -u (w sklepie, w domu, w mieście), feminine the same as the dative (w szkole, w pracy).

Noun endings in the plural

The plural has fewer endings, and three cases – the dative, instrumental and locative – share the same endings for all genders: -om, -ami, -ach. What matters is the split between masculine personal nouns (men, and groups that include a man) and all the others. You will find more examples in our guide to the plural.

Adjectives in the cases

An adjective takes the same case, gender and number as the noun it describes. Adjective endings are more regular than noun endings – it is worth learning them by heart using the word nowy (new).

Prepositions and verbs that require a particular case

The simplest route to the correct ending is to learn prepositions and verbs together with their case. Don’t learn the word czekać (to wait) on its own – learn czekać na kogoś / na coś (to wait for someone / something, accusative).

Note: some prepositions combine with two cases and change their meaning when they do. Jestem na poczcie (locative – where?), but idę na pocztę (accusative – where to?). Kot śpi pod stołem (instrumental), but kot wszedł pod stół (accusative).

How to identify the case in a sentence – three steps

1. Check whether there is a preposition before the word. If there is, the preposition usually decides: bez – genitive, z kim – instrumental, o czym – locative.
2. If there is no preposition, look at the verb. After mam, lubię, kupuję comes the accusative, after pomagam, dziękuję – the dative, after szukam, potrzebuję – the genitive.
3. Check whether the sentence contains “nie”. Negation turns the accusative into the genitive: mam samochód, but nie mam samochodu.

The most common mistakes with cases

• The nominative instead of another case: “Mieszkam w Warszawa” – correct: mieszkam w Warszawie.
• The accusative after negation: “Nie lubię kawę” – correct: nie lubię kawy.
• The nominative after “być” with a profession: “Jestem lekarz” – correct: jestem lekarzem.
• A calque from Russian or Ukrainian: “Jadę na autobusie” – correct: jadę autobusem.
• The wrong case after a numeral: “pięć książki” – correct: pięć książek.

These mistakes happen at every level, even just before the exam. See how the B1 exam tests the cases – with sample tasks.

Test yourself: complete the sentences

Put the word in brackets into the correct form.

1. Nie mam ______ (samochód).
2. Codziennie rozmawiam z ______ (mama).
3. Kupiłem prezent dla ______ (siostra).
4. Mój kolega jest ______ (nauczyciel).
5. Dziękuję ______ (pan) za pomoc.
6. Czekam na ______ (autobus).
7. Często myślę o ______ (praca).
8. W sklepie kupiłam pięć ______ (jabłko).

Answers

1. samochodu – genitive after negation
2. mamą – instrumental after “z”
3. siostry – genitive after “dla”
4. nauczycielem – instrumental after “być”
5. panu – dative after “dziękować”
6. autobus – accusative after “czekać na”
7. pracy – locative after “myśleć o”
8. jabłek – genitive plural after “pięć”

Want to check how well you handle the cases across a wider range? The placement test will show you in about a quarter of an hour, and at a trial lesson the teacher will point out which endings to practise first.